Lifeboat



L. COCHARD Dec. 16, 1930.

LIFEBOAT Filed Sept. 3, 1929 INVENTOR.

TTORNEYS.

l atented 16, 193d c srA'res' PATENT. rarer LOUIS ooonl nn, or NAPA, CALIFORNIA LIFEBOAT Application filed September 3, 1929. Serial No. 389,938.

This invention relates to lifeboats. wardly through the stern of the boat. The

t is the principal objectof the present 111- power plant 15 drives the usual propeller 13 vention to generally improve the construcat the stern. tion of lifeboats whereby they may be com- I have shown an ordinary type of rudder 5 pletely enclosed to prevent swamping and be 17 operated by a tiller 18. It is obvious that maintained well ventilated without danger I may provide controls forthe rudder 17. of shipping water when in high running seas. which may be manipulatedfrointhe interior In carrying out the invention into practlce of the boat without departing from my inven- I provide a lifeboat hull which is completely tion. 7 a v 10 decked over so as to prevent the shipping of Due to the fact that the hull is completely 6% seas. Ventilators are provided which are SO enclosed it is necessary to provide means for designed that they will admit air to the inadequately ventilating the interior of the terior of the boat but will trap any water eIlboat. For this purpose I provide a plurality tering the ventilators anddischarge it. of ventilators 18 having cowls 19 revolvably One form which theinvention may assume projecting from the raised deck. These cowls 65 is exemplified in the following description 19 are mounted on the top of air conduits 20 and illustrated by way of example in the 210- which extend through the raised deck and companying drawings, in which: which are connected at their lower ends to Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a closed drums 21. Overboard discharge pipes 20 lifeboat partially in longitudinal section and 22 are connected at their upper ends to the disclosing the preferred embodiment of my bottom of the drums and their lower ends eX- invention, tend through the hull of the boat at the Figure 2 is a transverse section taken cenbottom thereof below the water-line. trally through the hull, Extending from the horizontal azn' s of each 25 Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View drum 21 is an air inlet pipe 23 which extends 75 of one of the ventilators, co-axially and then vertically. The outer Figure 4 is a vertical sectional View taken end of this air inlet pipe 23 open so that centrally through one of the ventilators on air may be discharged downwardly through line IVIV of Figure 3. the cowl thence into the drum 21 and into the Referring more particularly to the accoinboat through the pipe 23. The air inlet pipe 80 panying drawings, 10 indicatesalifeboat hull 23 is revolvably connected tothe drum 21 of suitable dimensions and lines. At the cenand is fitted with a depending pendulum or ter of the boat the deck is slightly raised so counterweight 24; The purpose of this pen as to provide suflicient head room in the hull. dulum or counterweight 24: is to maintain the The space surrounding the raised deck is of pipe-23 in a vertical position regardless of 8 course decked over so that the entire hull the disposition of the pipes 20' and 22. In will he decked in to prevent shipping of any other words, should the boat completely overwater when the boat is operated in high run turn the counterweight 24 would seek a lower ning seas. position by gravity and maintain the pipe 23 For the purpose of gaining entrance to the vertically above the water line so that water boat the raised deck portion is provided with entering the pipe 20 through the cowl 19 a hatchway 11 fitted With a hinged hatch would only rise to the water-line and as the cover 12. A. ladder 14 is provided so that outlet 23 is above the water-line the water persons may enter or exit from the boat would not enter the boat. through the hatch 11. In such a case air would enter pipes 22 The boat here disclosed may be propelled and pass into the boat through the drum and in any desired manner but I prefer to provide through the pipe 23. a power plant 15 which, in this instance, is It is also seen that by the position of the shown as an internal combustion engine. The revolvable air inlet pipes 23 and their Weights exhaust pipe 16 of the engine extends rear- 24 that when the boat is rolling the pipes 23 will be maintained above the water-line so as to prevent the entrance of water to the hull. Should water enter the cowls 19 when the boat is in an upright position it will be discharged directly through the drum and through the pipe 22.

In operation of the boat it is intended that it be carried and launched in the same manner as the usual lifeboat. In case it is necessary to use the boats the passengers are lowered into the boat through the hatchway l1 and thereafter the hatohway is tightly clamped shut. Any water passing over the lifeboat after it is launched can not gain entrance into the interior oi the boat due to the fact that it is completely decked over and any water discharging into the cowls-19 will be automatically discharged through the pipe 22 as the entrances of the pipes 23 are above thewater-line, the water will not pass into the hull.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided a lifeboat which is'so constructed that it will not ship water but which at the same time will be maintained well ventilated.

\Vhile I have shown the preferred form of my invention it is to be understood that various changes in its construction may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat-' ent is 1. A lifeboat comprising a hull, said hull being completely decked over, a drum arranged within the hull, a vertical pipe extending from the drum through the deck, a cowl fitted to the upper end of said pipe exterior of the hull, conduit extending from the bottom of the drum through the bottom of the hull, an air inlet pipe connected to the drum and having an open end disposed within the hull above the water-line, said air inlet pipe being revolvably connected to the drum, and means for constant y maintaining said pipe in its uppermost position. i

2. A lifeboat comprising a hull, said hull being completely decked over, a drum arranged within the hull, a vertical pipe eX- tending from the drum through the deck, a cowl fitted to the upper end of said pipe eX- terior of the hull, conduit extending from the bottom of the drum through the bottom of the hull, an air inlet pipe connected to the position regardless of themovement of the boat about its longitudinal axis.

duit connected at its lower end to the top of the drum and communicating with the interior thereof, the upper end of said conduit projecting through the deck and being fitted at its upper end to a cowl, substantially vertically arranged discharge conduits connected at their upper ends to the bottom of the drum and connnunicating with the interior thereof, the lower ends of said pipes projected through the bottom of the hull, an air inlet pipe rotatably connected at one end to the drum concentrically to the longitudinal axis thereof, said air inlet pipe being adapted to revolve about a horizontal axisparallel to the longitudinal aXis of the hull, said air inlet pipe extending co-axially of the drum and vertically with its outer .end disposed above the water-line of the hull and a weight fiXGd tO said pipe and depending therefrom whereby the outer end of said pipe will be maintainedin its vertical position regardless of the disposition of the drum, the inlet and discharge conduits.

LOUIS COCHARD. 

